Tuesday, 13 January 2009

I've previously expressed my support for having a single national securities regulator in Canada so I'm glad that the just-released Hockin report also supports this long-overdue idea.

Why should individual investors care about a matter that might seem only to be a power struggle between the federal government and the provinces, especially Alberta and Québec?

Gail Bebee, author of No Hype Investing, has an even better answer than I could come up with, so here it is, with her permission.

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Promising proposals could deliver a fairer system for small investors

Toronto, January 13 – Help may be at hand for Canadian investors long served poorly by a mishmash of provincial securities regulations, if the government acts on a new report from The Expert Panel on Securities Regulation in Canada. Independent investor and personal finance author Gail P. Bebee believes that the report’s recommendations, which include a national securities regulator, investor panel and investor compensation fund could benefit small investors in several ways:

·Increase the choice of investing products, especially in smaller provinces

·Improve the process for handling complaints about financial products and services

·Improve government oversight and enforcement and reduce financial industry fraud

·Give investors a voice in regulatory policy making

·Facilitate more timely government policy decisions on securities industry issues.

·Lower industry administrative costs which will hopefully be passed on to retail investors.

Bebee offers a word of caution: “I am hopeful that Minister Flaherty’s commitment to changing the securities regulatory system will prevail. However, a national securities regulator has been under consideration for years without action. This report could end up on the heap of great ideas that were never adopted.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Gail Bebee

Personal finance speaker and author of No Hype - The Straight Goods on Investing Your Money

All the investing basics for Canadians from a savvy financial industry outsider